The Wild Rose Oneshots
by Lia Whyteleafe
Summary: This is what might happen if some of my original characters attended Hogwarts.
1. The Wandmaker: Milly

**The Wandmaker**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from Harry Potter. If you don't recognise it, I don't own it.**

 _1._

 _Milly_

"Nervous, Milly?"

Eleven-year-old Milly Costello looked at the shop looming in front of her. "No." She could see faded lettering above the door: _Mrs. Leireag's_.

She _was_ nervous, but not about getting her first – and hopefully only – wand. Milly was the youngest of three sisters. The eldest, Rachel, had developed a talent for creating magical pictures and the second sister, Susanna, was the top student in her year. She was close to being the top student in her house and considering she was a Ravenclaw, that was saying something.

So where did that leave Milly?

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Milly's mother asked.

"I…yes, please."

"I'm sorry we couldn't go to Ollivander's." The Fearainn wandmaker wasn't as well-known as Ollivander or Gregorovitch, but she'd never had an unsatisfied customer.

"It's all right," Milly said. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, holding the door open for her mother.

The walls were lined with small, slim boxes; Milly saw each box was a different colour, with black boxes closest to the door and very pale grey at the opposite end. On the small wooden counter was a pot of white flowers. A shadow stood behind the counter; after a moment, a woman in a dusty-green robe stepped forward, smiling.

"Mrs. Costello, how nice to see you again! And this is your youngest?"

"This is Emilia," Teresa Costello said, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Milly, this is Sylvatica Leireag."

Mrs. Leireag motioned towards a young man standing in the back of the shop. "This is my apprentice. Do you mind if he watches, Emilia?"

Milly shook her head. "How will I know when I've found the right wand?"

"You won't find it. It finds you." Mrs. Leireag took a box from the myriad on the walls and placed it on the counter in front of Milly. Tentatively, Milly opened the box and picked up the wand.

She felt nothing.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Leireag said soothingly. "It's rare to find your wand quickly." She took another box, pushing the other one to the far end of the counter.

Milly tried several wands but none of them seemed to match her. After the thirteenth try, the apprentice spoke, startling everyone in the shop.

"Fruit."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Leireag asked. "That doesn't leave her with a lot of options."

The apprentice nodded. "Definitely a fruit tree wand for this one."

Milly watched as Mrs. Leireag gathered as many wands as she could and placed them on the table in front of her: cherry, apple and pear. They had a variety of cores.

She had at least six unsuccessful tries before her hand landed on a box containing an apple wand with a unicorn hair. She opened the box and picked up the wand. The moment it was in her hand, she felt her arm tingle and the next moment the flowers on the counter changed from white to a beautiful, brilliant blue.

Her face broke into a delighted smile.

"I remember the unicorn I took the hair from," Mrs. Leireag said with a smile. "A very gentle, very sweet little mare…take good care of that wand, won't you?"

"I will," Milly promised.


	2. The Wandmaker: Sami

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _2._

 _Samara_

Samara Morel's eleventh birthday was surprisingly sombre. Everyone in the house seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for something. Samara knew what it was even though nobody said anything out loud.

After supper, she would have liked nothing more than to retire to the library and disappear into a book, but there was no chance of that. Her grandmother pushed back her chair and left the room. Samara listened as her footsteps faded away.

Her parents looked down at the table, refusing to meet their daughter's eyes. Candles flickered in a desperate attempt to send light into the shadows.

Eventually Dame Nancy Morel returned with a slim box in her hands. Samara felt her hands tremble. The Morel family wand was crafted from hawthorn and was the only wand Samara knew of that had sphinx hair for a core. Legend said the wizard who crafted the wand answered a sphinx's riddle in exchange for his life and one of her hairs. Samara liked the tale, but she didn't believe it. It was more likely the sphinx accidentally left one of her hairs behind after the wizard guessed the correct answer to her riddle.

Dame Morel opened the box and put it on the table in front of her granddaughter. Candlelight seemed to dance off the wand, which was smooth from use.

Samara was an only child. More than that, she was an only _daughter_. If the wand didn't accept her, it would be passed to her children, whose surname would not be Morel.

Quickly, so nobody would see her shaking hand, she picked the wand up and held it delicately. Immediately she felt power coursing through her. The candle flames stayed the same size, but their glow lit up the entire room.

When the glow faded, Samara saw the glint of approval in her grandmother's eyes.


	3. The Wandmaker: Frankie

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _3._

 _Frankie_

Frankie was bored. The excitement of her first ever trip to the mainland had worn off after being escorted around the shops with all the other children her age from their island by the _police chief_ of all people. Didn't he have anything better to do? Be a policeman, for instance?

He was always keeping an eye on her, as if paranoid she might wander off.

Now she stood in the far corner of Mrs. Leireag's shop with most of the others, watching as her friend Jack tried wand after wand after wand after wand. There was a pile of boxes on the counter, and they were almost taking up half the space. Frankie could sense the other children shifting about restlessly. After Jack found his wand, it would be her turn and then they could go home.

Suddenly Jack gave a yell of triumph as a small burst of flame erupted at the tip of his wand.

"Francesca, you're up," Nicholas Ainsley called, deftly whisking Jack's wand from his fingers and placing it back in its box. Jack protested, but Nicholas gave him a warning glare that sent him slinking back to the others.

"Last one!" Mrs. Leireag announced cheerfully, handing Frankie a dark grey box from the non-existent shelves while her apprentice started tidying away the boxes left over from Jack's turn. "Let's see how you do with this one."

Frankie held the wand, fighting the urge to fidget with the sleeve of her sweater. The sweater was an ugly yellow colour, and Frankie hated it.

"Not that wand, then." Mrs. Leireag took the wand away and handed her client a different one. Frankie felt no different after touching this one.

"Here. Try this." The apprentice was standing beside Frankie, holding out a wand he had taken from the pile that rejected Jack.

Frankie tilted her head to one side. "What kind of wood is that?"

"Dogwood." The apprentice motioned with his hands. "Go on – take it!"

Frankie did so – and before she realised what she was doing she touched the end of the wand to the sleeve of her jumper.

"HEY!" Nicholas shouted, but Frankie wasn't listening. She stared, mesmerised, at the red veins that spread out from the wand's tip. Before long, her sweater was no longer yellow but crimson.

"Well, aren't you the reckless one?" Mrs. Leireag said, chuckling. "Not everyone has an occamy feather in their wand."

"She'll have hers in its box too." Nicholas held out a hand, his eyes stern and angry. Frankie watched resentfully as he put it away. "And if you get it back before you go to Hogwarts, think yourself lucky."

Afterwards, she was so busy talking to Jack that she didn't hear Mrs. Leireag's words to Nicholas.

"If I were you, Mr. Ainsley, I'd be keeping a very close eye on that young lady. People with dogwood wands are mischievous enough, but paired with an occamy feather…" She shook her head. "That is not a safe combination."

"Believe me," Nicholas said grimly, "I know."


	4. The Wandmaker: Avrel

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _4._

 _Avrel_

"Don't be surprised if you're sorted into different houses," Avrel's mother said warningly.

Avrel nearly rolled her eyes. She was secretly hoping she and Leo _would_ end up in the same House, but there was no point in saying that out loud.

"Mum, just because we're twins doesn't mean we'll be placed together." Leo adjusted the bag he carried on his shoulder.

"Exactly," Mrs. da Lange said. "Here we are – the wand shop."

She pushed the door open and held it so Avrel and Leo could go in after her.

"Hello!" the wandmaker said cheerfully. "I'm Sylvatica Leireag, and you must be the da Langes?"

"We are. This is Leo and Avrel."

Mrs. Leireag smiled at Avrel. "Ladies first."

"Hey, I'm older than she is!" Leo protested…but his voice died down after a warning look from his mother.

Unable to suppress a grin of excitement, Avrel walked over to the counter and took the first wand Mrs. Leireag gave her. She gave it a quick wave, but nothing happened.

"Don't be disappointed," the wandmaker said reassuringly. "What about this one?"

This time, Avrel felt as if she'd received a small shock. She waved the wand and the blue flowers on the desk changed to a vibrant orange.

Avrel grinned with delight.

"Ash and…let me see." Mrs. Leireag checked the box the wand came in. "Hippogriff feather! Wands don't usually find their people so quickly. All right, young man, you're next."

Leo took much longer than his sister. Avrel thought he must have tried every single kind of wand Mrs. Leireag possessed until he eventually found his: oak with a dragon heartstring. As they left the shop, Avrel felt her heart sink. If their wands had nothing in common, what chance did they have of ending up in the same house?

 **Hope you enjoyed the wands oneshots! It was fun matching the girls to their respective wand woods on Pottermore. For some reason, I just knew Milly was going to be apple.**

 **The next group will be what Hogwarts house they're sorted into.**


	5. The Sorting: Milly

**The Sorting**

 **DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _1._

 _Milly_

"Costello, Emilia!"

Nerves rose up in Milly's throat, threatening to choke her. Swallowing them down, she walked forward, deliberately keeping her eyes on the space between the Hat and the stool beneath. She closed her eyes and the last thought as the Hat was lowered onto her head was that she wasn't going to be scared.

 _That's the idea,_ a voice said.

Milly nearly jumped out of her skin. She clutched the edge of the stool tightly.

 _My, you_ _ **are**_ _a tricky one! Your sisters weren't nearly this troublesome._

Milly glanced quickly towards the Gryffindor table, trying to catch a glimpse of Rachel. When she looked at the Ravenclaw table, she saw Susanna watching with an expectant yet hopeful expression.

 _Let's see now. You're compassionate, not exactly unintelligent, and you've got a gutsy side to you as well._

Had she?

 _You do. And you've got a hunger. You want more for yourself, but you don't know precisely what it is you want yet. So, where to put you? Where would you do best?_

Bravery. Friendship. Knowledge. Ambition. It was an impossible choice, and it wasn't even hers to make.

Except…wouldn't she find all four of those things no matter where she ended up? Her house didn't determine who she was. What mattered was who she _became_.

 _Oh, very wise, Miss Costello. Very wise indeed._

Milly wanted to find out who she was, what she could do, what she could give. She wanted…

She wanted to soar.

 _Then soar you shall._

"RAVENCLAW!"


	6. The Sorting: Avrel

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _2._

 _Avrel_

"Da Lange, Avrel!"

Leo squeezed Avrel's shoulder. She tried not to look back at him as she walked towards the stool. She didn't look at him as she felt the Hat settling on her head.

 _I do love Sorting twins,_ the Hat said. _It's always interesting seeing if they belong in the same house or different ones._

Avrel wondered where she belonged.

 _You are not your brother, Miss da Lange. But you do have a strong loyalty about you. If someone wins your respect and friendship, they've got an ally for life. I know just where to put you._

"HUFFLEPUFF!"


	7. The Sorting: Frankie

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _3._

 _Frankie_

"Jamison, Francesca!"

Frankie walked boldly towards the stool. She sat down and kept perfectly still as the Hat descended.

 _You're a bold one, aren't you? And sneaky. You're reckless, but clever enough not to get caught. You're a lion_ _ **and**_ _a serpent._

Frankie had been expecting Jack to be Sorted into Gryffindor. Judging from the look on his face as the Hat was removed, he was just as surprised as she was that he'd been placed in Slytherin.

 _Careless disregard for the rules is not courage, Miss Jamison. You, on the other hand, do have courage. There's a definite spark inside you - let's see if we can fan that into a flame._

"GRYFFINDOR!"


	8. The Sorting: Sami

**DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

 _4._

 _Samara_

"Morel, Samara!"

Samara sat down, closed her eyes and waited, remembering her grandmother's words before she left home. She was resigned to her fate.

 _It doesn't have to be like that, you know,_ the Hat murmured. _You don't have to be a Slytherin. Others have chosen not to take that path._

But what path did she have?

 _Listen, Miss Morel. Slytherin House is remaking itself. The past doesn't determine the future, and you have a chance to_ _ **make**_ _the future. Reshape Slytherin's legacy. What do you think?_

Samara smiled. Challenge accepted.

 **Hope you enjoyed the oneshots! The next one will be the first meeting.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Study Groups**

 **DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One.**

The interhouse study groups were a new idea. If they were a success, they would become an official part of Hogwarts life.

Milly couldn't see the point of them. Didn't students make friends from different houses and study with them anyway? But then, they probably befriended each other beforehand; the whole idea was to get the students into groups and then see if friendship would blossom.

She paced in front of the stone wall three times, thinking how badly she needed to find the Room of Requirement, which had been set aside for the group studies.

A door appeared in the wall, right in front of her. She pushed it open and was swamped by the sound of happy, enthusiastic chatter. The Room was filled with tables large enough to seat four people; students were walking around, talking to each other and settling into groups. An elderly Professor was looking intently around at the students, a pleased smile on his face. It was only when Milly looked closer that she saw all the groups seated at the tables were made up of three students: one in a red uniform, one in yellow, one in blue. There wasn't a single Slytherin in sight.

"Hey!" a voice called. "Hey! Blondie!"

A Gryffindor girl was waving from a nearby table. Milly recognised her from the Sorting. She had wild brown hair and a turned-up nose, and was pretty in an untamed, friendly way. Milly walked over to her table and sat down.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Milly Costello."

"Frankie Jamison." Frankie's eyes were sparkling playfully. "You must be the first Claw who ends up in detention with me!"

Milly had no intention of spending _any_ time in detention. But there was something about the way this girl smiled that made her feel at ease. "So if I'm a Claw, what are you?"

"A Griff," Frankie said matter-of-factly. "And _she_ is a Puff."

Another first-year girl stood in the doorway. Her hair was tied back with a scarf the same yellow as her tie. She was looking longingly at a table where three boys – one blue, one red, one yellow – were sitting.

"What are the Slytherins? Are they Slyths? Slithers?"

"I don't know." Frankie glanced around her quickly. "Hey, where are they?"

"Hi." It was the girl with the scarf. "Do you mind?"

"Sure!" Frankie pointed at one of the empty chairs.

The girl lowered herself into it. "I'm Avrel. Avrel da Lange."

"I'm Milly and this is Frankie. Do you know those boys?" Milly pointed at the table Avrel had been staring at.

"The one in Gryffindor's my brother. Leo." Avrel rolled her eyes. "I know – we don't look like twins."

The Professor clapped his hands together sharply, making every student in the room stop talking. "Good afternoon, everyone!" The light made his velvet robes shimmer. "I think that's all of you in a group, so once you've all been…oh!" The Professor's face and voice suddenly brightened. "Come on, come in!"

Everyone looked at the doorway – and Milly felt as if a blanket of snow had suddenly fallen.

A single Slytherin stood in the archway. The black, green and silver clothes went perfectly with her long black hair and pale skin, and she was able to make the simple Hogwarts uniform look surprisingly tasteful. She calmly met every watching eye without shrinking.

She'd smiled just before the Hat shouted out her placement.

"Samara Morel, isn't it? Please, find yourself a group."

Milly straightened up, trying to catch the black-haired girl's eye. When she looked their way, Milly gestured with her head towards the last remaining seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frankie making subtle beckoning gestures.

"Excellent!" the Professor said cheerfully. "There are some discussion questions on the table to get you started."

Frankie pulled the parchment close to her and studied it. "The first question is: 'Discuss the symbolism behind the four Hogwarts houses.' Really?"

"Well, Slytherin makes you think of a snake slithering on the ground," Avrel began. "Gryphons are part-lion…"

"Then why isn't the Ravenclaw symbol a raven?" Milly asked.

"She's right," Frankie said. "We know lions are associated with courage and snakes with cunning, but why an eagle and a badger? What do they symbolise?"

"And why didn't Helga pick something a bit tougher, like a bear?" complained Avrel, leaning her elbows on the table.

A tiny snort echoed around the table. Milly, Avrel and Frankie looked at Samara, who was trying to stifle a smile.

"Something funny?" Avrel demanded, glaring at her.

"You don't know much about badgers, do you?" drawled Samara. When nobody spoke up, she continued: "Badgers aren't sweet, harmless creatures. They're one of the most dangerous woodland animals in the country. Even a lion knows not to mess with an angry honey badger."

"And badgers eat snakes," Frankie added.

"There's got to be a bit more to it," Milly said. "The four creatures of Ilvermorny weren't chosen at random. They meant something to the founders – something special."

"Ilvermorny creature?" Frankie leaned forwards, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Horned serpent, pukwudgie, wampus and thunderbird," Samara told her. "They're the house mascots of Ilvermorny School in America."

"Oh."

Then Milly had an idea. "Suppose Harry Potter founded a Hogwarts house," she said slowly. "What animal would he pick?"

The other three girls looked at each other.

"Well, I'm guessing…probably a stag," Frankie said.

"Why?"

"It's the animal he's most associated with. It's his…" A light came into Frankie's eyes. "Oh. _Oh._ "

"Oh my gosh," Avrel breathed. "That actually makes sense!"

She put her hand up. The Professor came over within moments.

"Are the four house animals the Patronus forms of the founders?" Avrel asked.

"Good thinking! Ten points to all your houses!"

When he went away, Samara asked: "Did he say we were right about the house animals?"

"…No," Milly admitted.

"But at least those were the first points we've ever won for our houses," Frankie said, grinning, "and they're not going to be the last. What's the next question?"

 **Hope you liked it!**


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